


Love is...?

by gaykaspbraktozier (orphan_account)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Fluff, Love, M/M, POV Steve Rogers, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, the avengers mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 11:06:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17786228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/gaykaspbraktozier
Summary: Love is...or, Steve goes through what love means to him





	Love is...?

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentines day!! this is just a little drabble thing i wrote on my phone today to celebrate this day with you!  
> All mistakes are my own but i hope you enjoy and i love you all

_Love is when he laughs._  

 

Steve found that Tony didn't laugh very often, he had so many different types of laughs; the soft one he makes when someone catches him off guard, the forced one for interviews when they try to make a joke and Tony doesn't appreciate it, the arrogant one when someone says something stupid... But Steve doesn't really count those as real laughs.

No, his favourite laugh, the one that made him fall in love, was the completely unexpected "you've-done-something-stupid-but-I-love-you" laugh, it was loud and often ended in stitches and tears, it was contagious and often at Steve's expense but it was never malicious and Steve just loved it.

He loved it even more when he had to kiss Tony to quiet him.

 

_Love is his voice._

 

When Tony was tired or in the 'zone' Steve had a hard time trying to shut him up. He'd talk and talk and _talk_  and then he kept apologising when he finished his rambling. Steve hated when he did that; hated that so many people told Tony to shut up that he had to apologise whenever he spoke too much.

There was no such thing as 'too much' to Steve, instead of telling him to stop he encouraged him to go on. Tony was always so animated, so amazing and Steve couldn't stop listening even if he wanted too.

 

_Love is his mind._

 

When people called Tony a genius, they weren't using the title lightly and Steve wasn't just thinking about the fact his boyfriend got into MIT at fifteen or the fact he built a flying armoured suit in a _cave_. Everyone knew those facts. No, Steve was talking about simple things like how he could fix the oven when it broke, how he could replace a phone screen when Steve ended up dropping it and then eventually making a practically indestructible one so he stopped accidentally crushing it.

Of course, the Ironman suits and Stark Industries were impressive but what also impressed Steve was how he used that mind to create the little things like a self-cleaning brush bowl that helped Steve with his art and didn't damage the bristles. Little things that just showed Steve how much Tony loved him.

His mind also was a mess and when he was tired he tried to make the impossible or the dangerous like wormholes and time machines and a never ending coffee pot. Steve was convinced he was dating a mad man but when Tony comes up to him, explaining a new idea for SI or creating a self heating mug for Clint because he'd forget his coffee and then get sad or even just when he created a card for Steve that had a built in hologram so when he pressed a button Tony could be seen telling him how much he loved him just so Steve would never forget, he realised that he didn't care how mad Tony was; he'd never, ever change him.

 

 _Love is his creativity_.

 

Tony wasn't artistic, he could draw when creating blueprints and he could sketch machinery all day long but he couldn't draw portraits or anything like what Steve could but he could doodle stupid comics which he'd draw on post-it notes and leave around the tower for Steve to find.

He was creative when he created Steve's suits or a new Ironman prototype or Nat's widow bites, every new creation took Steve's breath away.

However, the thing that amazed Steve the most was the creative use of words that came out of Tony's mouth. The way he often winged his speeches or how he spoke about the technology he created or as they laid in bed, completely stated and drowsy, Tony gently tracing patterns into Steve's chest, he would whisper words into the room; so many beautiful sentences to describe his love or Steve's eyes, sometimes in English, sometimes in Italian but every time, Steve makes sure he remembers everything he said to write down in the morning. Those were Steve's favourite moments.

 

_Love is his unhealthy habits._

 

Tony was one of the most unhealthy people Steve knew and sometimes he wonders how he managed to survive this long. He would go days without sleep, weeks without eating a vegetable and took hours to convince him to eat a meal and to stop snacking. He was a walking heart attack and Steve often felt he was close to a heart attack too just watching his boyfriend.

Although, there were perks from his habits. After spending too long in the lab Tony would become like a kitten, he'd get a little cranky and sleepy but allowed Steve to carry him out of the room and take him into bed and tuck him in. He'd be clingy and adorable and it made Steve warm inside.

When he went too long without eating he'd rise up from below and go into the kitchen where Steve will have prepared a home cooked meal. He would hug Steve from behind and be so thankful; those moments were always so tender.

 

_Love is his heart and his generosity._

 

Steve always hated when people called Tony heartless or selfish because he was one of the most generous people he had ever met. His heart was so big and he had so much love to share; he often made donations to charities under the radar so nobody saw it as a publicity stunt, he helped old people with their shopping, paid for struggling families when they couldn't pay for their food, he made things that made people's lives easier and he never made a fuss about anything, despite the fact he'd make a joking comment, he always did what the team asked of him.

Steve hated that people would insult his boyfriend the way they did but Tony would just smile and tell him it doesn't matter, he doesn't need the whole world's approval as long as he had Steve's.

Steve always made sure he reassured Tony and let him know he _always_  had Steve's approval. 

 

_Love is his smile._

 

A real smile was another Stark rarity, there were so many different types of smiles that he wore; a sleepy smile in the morning when he wakes up next to Steve, the one he wears when he finishes a new project or gets to pet a dog in the street. Steve really likes those smiles.

There were also the smiles he wore when; he went on interview shows and they cut into him and Tony couldn't do anything about it, the ones when he'd made a self-deprecating comment and those ones were so twisted and bitter and then there were the ones where someone would compliment him and he'd smile like he was uncomfortable and didn't deserve their praise. Steve hated those smiles.

The smiles he loved, the ones he _adored_ , were the smiles Steve managed to make. Where he'd surprise him with dinner, or the ones he'd wear when Steve came to sit in the lab with him while he worked, the ones he wore when it was just those two and Steve would always smile back. In those moments, it felt like it was only them two in the whole world and Tony's smile would brighten Steve's life. They didn't get much better than that.

 

 _Love is home._  

 

Steve hadn't had a home in such a long time, moving from post to post during the war and then being frozen for seventy years and left with nothing really made things hard for him, he couldn't settle. That was until Tony Stark found him, _rescued_  him, brought him into his life and got him up to date in this modern world.

Tony built the whole team a tower, when they started dating he made a whole floor just dedicated to them both. It was truly amazing and Steve finally felt like he could settle down and be happy, only he found that home didn't feel like home when Tony wasn't there and he didn't really understand it.

That was until they were both sent on a mission, a hundred miles from their house and that warm, safe feeling that home gave him was still there and Steve quickly realised that it was because the four walls in which he lived wasn't his home: Tony was.

 

 _Love is in his eyes_.

 

Tony's eyes were easy to read to Steve, he could tell his emotions just by looking at them; when he was tired, sad, hungry, angry, happy or excited. He could tell when situations were becoming too much for him and when he needed a break, sometimes Tony could tell him more with his eyes than with words and Steve found that Tony greatly appreciated it because although he had so many words to share, sometimes he just didn't know what to say.

Steve found that he picked it up quickly, even before they got together, everyone was shocked because they saw Tony as this closed off book but they just didn't look closely enough because as Steve knelt on one knee in front of him, holding open a ring box with the words _marry me?_  hanging in the air; Steve could read the love behind the tears as he said _yes_  and slipped on the ring before dropping to his own knees and kissing him with so much passion Steve found it difficult to breathe.

 

_Love is Tony Stark._

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos is what keeps me writing <3
> 
> to check out my transparent series click here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1127072


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